How to Take Your Lighting Control System to the Next Level

A basic lighting control system is a great way to add more convenience and luxury to your Florida home. At the push of a button, you can get just the right levels of brightness for maximum comfort. But if you want to go beyond the basic capabilities of lighting control, then consider adding motorized shades to your system. Keep reading to learn how motorized shades can enhance ambiance, save energy, and increase convenience in your Ft. Lauderdale area home.

Full Control Over Every Lighting Source

A lighting control system connects all of the overhead fixtures, lamps, and other artificial light sources throughout your home into one easily manageable platform. Because everything is connected, you can control every single light just by pushing a button on your smartphone or tablet. However, there’s one area of light that isn’t automatically at your fingertips: natural sunlight. That’s where motorized shades come in.

With motorized shades, you can take advantage of the most energy-efficient light source around. Here are two of the top ways that motorized shades integrate into your existing lighting control system:

Daylight Harvesting Senors

Having your artificial lights on at full blast on a sunny day is an unneeded waste of energy. On the other hand, sunny Florida homes often struggle with high HVAC bills, so homeowners keep shades drawn to prevent solar heat gain. With daylight harvesting sensors, you get the best of both worlds. The sensors are placed in the windows and connected to both your motorized shades and lighting system.

Throughout the day, the sensors identify how much sunlight is entering the room and cause the shades and lights to adjust automatically. When there is a good amount of sunlight, the shades will open, and the overhead lights will dim. If a cloud passes overhead, the lights will brighten to accommodate the temporary darkness. And if temperature sensors indicate that the sun is causing too much solar heat gain, the motorized shades will automatically close, and the artificial lights will adjust in response. The result is that no matter what the weather is like outside, the interiors of your home will have perfect lighting levels while conserving energy.

Lighting ScenesScenes are a group of pre-saved settings within your smart home automation system. These scenes are incredibly useful for setting the right ambiance and feel for a frequent activity such as cooking or sleeping. Motorized shades add even more value to existing lighting scenes.

Take a “Movie” scene for example. With basic lighting control, starting the “Movie” scene would dim all of the lights in the room to create a dark environment perfect for focusing on the television or projector. But the ease of pressing that single button is thrown out the window if you still have to get up and draw the shades closed around the room. Instead, integrate motorized shades into your lighting control system, and when you select that scene, the shades will automatically lower, blocking out the glare of sunlight across the movie screen.

We’ve barely scratched the surface of the benefits and capabilities of motorized shades. To learn more about the possibilities for fully custom lighting and shading solutions for your home, contact us today.